Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

I tried capturing the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), 60-sec exposures, f/1.8, 800 ISO, 56 mm (112 mm equivalent) Sigma lens on my Olympus OM-D E-M1 mk ii. Six photos stacked in these images (a total of 6 min of exposure), one uncropped and one cropped. I’m pretty happy with this. I still need to learn to stack a bit better, and there are all sorts of tricks for bringing out detail in the galaxy that I don’t yet know, but for a first effort I’m pleased. You can easily see the companion galaxy M110 above Andromeda, and M32 is apparent, but looks pretty much like a fuzzy star, a close below Andromeda.

It’s so frustrating to me to try to see this with my naked eye. With a dark sky, and when I’m dark-adapted, I can make it out with my peripheral vision. Damn cones in my fovea just can’t manage to do it – at best I can convince myself that there’s something there.

One more – 20 stacked images, and cropped a bit more tightly.

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